Completing the Square

This was my first time teaching completing the square and I was nervous about it.

Luckily for me, I bookmarked this post by Mimi.

I used the area model to teach polynomial multiplication in Algebra I so I really liked this connection into quadratics. It worked out soooo well! The students even said it was easy and this included ones with fractions too. There is something about having boxes to fill in that just makes things seem simple. Or at the least, doable.



I took Mimi's worksheet and made it my own, using her methods of scaffolding. We first practiced rewriting equations in vertex form and then solving all the way.